The Kanto Cricket League, as it seemed to have survived the latest turbulence, is marked by a dichotomy that continues to surprise its well wishers and adversaries (if there are any!). The league was jolted last month when Tony Fordyce, its chairman, decided to call it quits, apparently frustrated over the way the Committee handled some issues in the past as well as a recent incident in which one team walked out of the play ground mid-way through the innings due to a disagreement with an umpiring decision. What should have been a pure cricketing administrative decision soon turned out to be a cacophony of email exchanges, the language of which was deemed abusive by some while others felt it was quite normal. The chairman tendered his resignation but later withdrew that offer. However, half of the Committee could not accept his withdrawal of resignation and in the end an election was called. Kamran Ali of YC&AC was elected in place of Fordyce but not before the pre-election process saw some acrimonious email exchanges in public.

The KCL and the Kanto Cup – the KCL’s predecessor – have a long history of wading through turbulence and coming out with a few bruises. The Kanto Cup had seen abusive email exchanges in public, but survived to become the strongest in the country which prompted the JCA to join hands with it. The present KCL was formed after a merger with JCA’s tournament in 2001 but the marriage lasted only a few years and both parties went their own ways with the JCA weaning away some of the KCL teams, again primarily due to the problems within the KCL Committee. While the administration of the KCL has always been hampered by different individuals at various times trying to sway the decisions in their way, the tournament itself was generally regarded as the strongest in the country with some high caliber cricketers and higher quality of cricket. The latest incident, which is sure to have planted seeds of discord, is expected to have some long term effects, both positive and negative, which may become conspicuous only by the next season. In order to be taken seriously, the KCL must show more professionalism and maturity, not only in the playing field, but in its administration too.

On the cricketing field, Serendip is leading the table in Group A with 9 points closely followed by Nagoya and Indian Engineers with 8 points each. In Group B, Lalazar and Alkaram have both have won their match and are leading the table.

Indian Engineers on Twitter

Follow the Engineers at http://twitter.com/ieccjapan/ for live match updates and other cricket updates.

The Fine Print

The Tibetan provincial government has objected to the Dalai Lama watching an Indian Premier League (IPL) match. “The religious leader was trying to prove to be a worthy son of India by participating in the country’s favourite pastime,” it said in an article published in the Communist Party organ, People’s Daily. “Cricket is one of the most popular sports in India and the Dalai Lama of course has to have fun with his ‘dad’ since he wants to be a son of India,” the article said quoting news reports that the Tibetan leader had watched an IPL match at Dharamshala on April 18 at the invitation of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. ###

Owner of Tequila Joe’s rubbished reports that some Indian players had been involved in a pub brawl after their loss to Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup. According to reports six Indian players went to the pub, where fans started taunting and abusing them which resulted in a confrontation after the team’s failure to reach the semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup.###

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf is likely to be hauled up before the parliamentary committee on sports and asked to respond to the reports that he forced some national team members to take oath against then skipper Younis Khan. Well informed sources said that the National Assembly standing committee was keen to call Yousuf for a hearing on May 21 after the PCB’s inquiry committee report said that Yousuf last year called six-seven players to his hotel room to take oath that they would not cooperate with Younis. ###

Banned Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who was blamed for politics and infighting in the team during the winless Australia tour, was even described as a “termite” by a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) inquiry commission formed to probe the disastrous tour, a leaked video of a hearing of the commission has revealed. The video, which is said to have been deliberately leaked by some of the PCB officials, show a member of the six-member committee using the word “termite” for Malik after being told by some of the fellow cricketers and coaches Intikhab Alam and Aqib Javed that the former captain was the only person to be blamed for the lack of team spirit in the team. ###

The Pakistani players put behind their dubious track record of infighting and discipline issues and maintained a squeaky clean image in the Caribbeans,reported their team manager. “It was a huge disappointment to lose the semifinals from a winning position. But generally I am happy we faced no disciplinary problems in the West Indies and all the players were well behaved and supportive of each other,” Yawar Saeed told reporters after the team’s return from the West Indies. ###

David Morgan, the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in an interview in Barbados, that said that it “won’t be too long” before day/night Tests are being played in either Australia or India. ###

Disappointed with Australia’s loss in the summit clash of the Twenty20 World Cup, Test and ODI captain Ricky Ponting said the finals of such tournaments should be a best-of-three affair. Australia won every match except for the all-important final in the just-concluded World Cup and Ponting said given the short format, the title should not be decided by just one summit showdown.###

Brain-child of an Indian engineer, Wow aluminium bats are the latest innovations to hit tennis ball cricket and was formally unveiled in New Delhi last month while those to be used by leather ball cricket would be introduced three months later. “Wow! Aluminium bats are made using aeronautical grade aluminium. Each machine-made bat is balanced so as to produce a perfect piece,” said IIT Roorkee alumni Vivek Lakhotia, who is the designer and innovator of the bat. Placed within the factory price range of Rs 500-800, Wow aluminium bats weighs less than the wooden bat and have a life which is at least five times more than a wooden cricket bat, Lakhotia said. These eco-friendly bats use recycled aluminium and will help save willow trees of Kashmir currently used in making of cricket bats, he added.

Comment: As reported in these columns in the last issue, the EU ban on willow treatment may also spur the growth of the Aluminium bat industry###

In yet another step to boost cricket in the U.S., a cricket match between two ofICC’s full members were held in Florida. Sri Lanka and New Zealand, played 2 T-20 matches the U.S shores last month on over a weekend. More than 15 million people in the United States follow cricket and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said he sees “vast potential for the growth of the sport in the USA.” The Blackcaps visited baseball’s Florida Marlins to see how life is for their US counterparts, using gloves to snag baseballs while the Marlins declined the chance to field cricket balls with their bare hands.”They were telling me how they break fingers and hands all the time,” said Florida’s Hanley Ramirez, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic. “I told them, ‘Maybe in the future you should think about wearing gloves.'” ###

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Brian Strang said he found peace and happiness after he met the Indian Yoga guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Strang’s life was earlier tormented when his land was seized during the revolution which made him rebel against the law and ultimately led him to prison terms. “Crcket is life. No other sport displays truer emotions”, Strang said to the interviewer. ###

Sri Lanka plan to hire a cruise liner to accommodate cricket World Cup fans and spectators at the newly built stadium in the island’s south, an official said. The six-million dollar stadium in Hambantota, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s hometown, lacks hotels to accommodate thousands of fans expected to watch the games in February-April next year. “Star-classed hotel facilities are enough for only two teams and the cruise ship can accommodate up to 1 000 people,” Sri Lankan World Cup official Suraj Dandeniya said. International Cricket Council rules require each venue to have five-star facilities to house between 500 and 1 000 players, officials, media and fans. Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh are co-hosting the 14-nation showpiece held every four years. Pakistan, the fourth test-playing nation in South Asia, were removed as co-hosts due to security concerns in the volatile country###

Following the success of the historic New Zealand v Sri Lanka Twenty20 International series played in Florida earlier this month, the USA Cricket Association (USACA), in association with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Three Feet High Productions, has released a television documentary titled “Cricket in America”. The 50-minute feature highlights cricket’s unique history in the United States, provides an insight into where the game is played in the country, and explores the potential of cricket to take hold in perhaps the most competitive sports marketplace in the world. The first ever international cricket match is recognised as having been played in New York City between the USA and Canada in 1844 and it is estimated there are as many as 15 million cricket fans in the USA, which is an Associate Member of the ICC, cricket’s global governing body.###

Source: Various web and print media

Asia & EAP News

Four Japanese women earn plaudits

After winning the recently concluded Pepsi ICC EAP Women’s Cricket Trophy 2010 tournament, the Japanese women were irresistible and four of them were named in the Team of the Tournament. Japan’s skipper, Ema Kuribayashi, who was also named as the captain the Team of the Tournament, Mariko Yamamoto, Katrina Keenan, the player and coach and Ayako Nakayama were rewarded for their performance throughout the tournament and found their names in the pick of the team.

As reported in this column earlier, the Women’s national team had qualified for the final round to the Women’s World Cup. The tournament – Pepsi ICC EAP Women’s Cricket Trophy 2010 – featuring Samoa, apart from PNG and hosts Japan was played in Sano, Japan last month.

Papua New Guinea makes history in EAP region

Cricket PNG have become the first Member Country of the East Asia – Pacific region to acquire world class turf wicket facilities, with the “Home of Cricket” in PNG, Amini Park, having a 6 wicket block laid recently. Cricket PNG will now begin to prepare the wickets for the upcoming tour of the Australian Indigenous XI in early July 2010.

Indian Engineers’ Japan Cricket Rating – New results

Results as of May 31.Tokyo Wombats fell to 3rd place in May after holding out in the 2nd place much of the last season while YC&AC clawed its way back into the top ten list with some impressive wins last month.

We encourage all teams to send us your result statistics regularly so that your team’s rankings remain as accurate as possible. We are in a position to obtain the results of the official tournament matches on our own but we are looking for the results of the friendly matches.

Readers’ Corner

In order to be taken seriously, the KCL should avoid shooting itself in the foot with such unerring accuracy and regularity. The players don’t know the rules, the umpires dont know the rules and the level of conduct is more suited to low level football hooliganism. I am not sure what the KCL is trying to achieve, but I am certain that this is not it.

David ToddYCAC

IECC Poll results

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Snippets of the Month

Note: Beginning the Issue #39 (May 6, ’04), we bring you some interesting snippets from the cricket world, to celebrate the fourth anniversary this Newsletter and first anniversary of our popular “Trivial Facts” series. The same will be published on the front page of our website too.

“Just when you think you have seen all of India, you come across with something even more fascinating. It’s so beautiful and I am loving every second of it.” – Adam Gilchrist about Dharamsala, where his team played an IPL match.

Trivial facts (from our Archives)

Zimbabwe’s Tatenda Taibu hold the record of youngest cricketer ever to lead a Test side when he led Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in 2004 aged 20 years 358 days.